


You Put the Sun in Sunday (Rewritten)

by larryent



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, American Football Player Harry Styles, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asshole Harry, Bookworm Louis, Boston, Bottom Louis, Breaking Up & Making Up, Bully Harry Styles, Coming Out, Coming of Age, Crying Harry, Crying Louis, Endgame Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Frat Boy Harry Styles, Gaslighting, Internalized Homophobia, Louis Tomlinson Has a Crush, Louis Tomlinson Has a Crush on Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson Loves Harry Styles, M/M, Mpeg Louis, Mpreg, Nerd Louis, Pregnant Louis Tomlinson, Quiet Louis Tomlinson, Sad Louis Tomlinson, Smut, Soft Louis Tomlinson, Soft people deserve soft things, The Sunday Fic, Top Harry, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:20:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25579483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larryent/pseuds/larryent
Summary: AKA "The Sunday Fic" (Rewritten)Louis is a love-brainwashed-teenager of hope drenched in dreams, clad in over-sized clothes damaged with holes, and standing waist-high in novels. Harry is a selfish closeted football captain with a head too big for his heart, and a bad habit of not thinking before he opens his mouth. No one ever said love was easy, Louis learned the hard way.Originally written for the HL Mpreg Fest 2019 on AO3 (collection link: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/HLMpregFest2019) Based on a prompt.larryent July 2020Do not repost/steal my work.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	You Put the Sun in Sunday (Rewritten)

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy, everyone,
> 
> I reread my own works sometimes and I can't get over the things I could have written differently. I wrote the original version of this fic for fest so there was a deadline, and now I'm back because I want to change a bunch of things.
> 
> (Spoiler! Do not read this paragraph if you don't want a spoiler) The first few chapters will be the same but just edited, and I'm writing Louis' character a little different. This time, he's going to learn from his mistake and understand Harry differently. In short, he won't be forgiving Harry and I'm going to develop his character because, in the original, only Harry's character had development (which was kind of weak in my opinion, I could have written more about growth and him coming out officially). This really upset me when rereading (and seeing many, many comments about Louis' character). (End of spoiler)
> 
> I wrote the original for the sake of angst and finally finishing a fic over 40K. I take criticism for my works, and I want to thank everyone who put their thoughts about Louis' character and the toxic relationship between him and Harry. This version will be a lot longer because of a major change I'm going to make (that eventually leads to a whole couple of years going by). I've been thinking about rewriting this fic for a while, it's just something I feel like I have to do so I can finally archive this idea in my head. I've put a lot of thought and blueprinting into this rewritten version and will be making a new playlist.
> 
> The original version will remain up, this version is for those who want to read it. This version will be quite a different story. There will be plenty more angst, better-structured characters and (hopefully) no grammatical errors.
> 
> Enjoy  
> \-- Love, Jasmine.  
> P.S. A new version means a new playlist. (my user is jasmint)
> 
> Warnings:  
> \- smut  
> \- male pregnancy (Louis)  
> \- asshole!harry  
> \- angst
> 
> Originally written for the HL Mpreg Fest 2019 on AO3 (collection link: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/HLMpregFest2019) Based on a prompt.

[Playlist Link](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/32uoLK2ITvptvDcxfDtiJB?si=mlyrG2wqSHO6g4kS7Qxnbw)

* * *

Louis was sick. He was really ill, to the point where he has a humidifier set on the highest setting, he sleeps next to a trash can, tissue box and a tub of coconut oil to soothe his red and dry nose. He sneezes again for the fifth time and collapses onto his tiny twin bed. His roommate murmurs something in his sleep before twisting in his sheets and facing the wall.

His dorm was nothing special. Two dressers, and a shared desk for both him and his dormmate's laptops. The walls were painted a soft yellow and one window stacked with Louis' prized novels and plants on the sill. Louis blows his nose and drops the tissue into the trash bin before flipping the page of the book in his lap. He squints, pushing his glasses further on the tip of his cherry nose and holds the tiny flashlight that provides a small glimmer of light.

He hears the humidifier bubble and coughs into his hand. Letting out a small sigh, he continues reading in the darkness of his dorm room on a Tuesday night.  
  
  
  
  
  


Two days later, it's Thursday. Louis leaves his study hall clenching a red thermos and a tissue box. He sniffles and is welcomed by the warm November air, the refreshing autumn breeze blowing through his short fluffy hair and gracing along his feverish skin. He's wearing a large brown turtleneck and a red knit cardigan, and a pair of black corduroys, which are his favourite kind of pants. His feet tucked into an old pair of loafers.

All of his clothes were too large by at least two sizes, they were all worn out and some had holes in them. Louis was aware of his messy attire, he tried to hide each hole or stubborn stain behind the layers. A little trick he learned from growing up with his grandparents. His grandmother used to bring him to little vintage shops when he was younger, from which his little obsession with teacups started. 

He bought almost all of his clothes from the local thrift store, it was the only option in his price range with the added cost of his essentials. His grandparents send money over when they can, although it dips into their retirement fund. Louis doesn't receive money often and his job at the campus library has helped out a bit, allowing him to splurge once a month on food or books that aren't from the second-hand store. He treated his books as children, especially the new ones, they were new shiny books without creases or water stains. The rest of the money he saves in his bank account while he tries very hard not to buy more teacups he doesn't need.

Louis liked his stretched out clothes, they weren't the prettiest to look at but they were comfortable and what he had. Although, because of his sickness, he needs to start budgeting to pay for his medicine and supply of tissue boxes.

"You know, whatever you have is probably highly contagious."

Louis rolls his eyes, facing his friend with a quirk in his lip. "Then, I hope I infect you as soon as possible."

The brunet laughs, tucking his chin into the collar of his denim jacket and softly nudges Louis' shoulder. "Please do, Professor Night isn't the gem you say he is."

The two begin walking to their next lecture hall all the way on the West side of campus. "Joseph is one of the best professors on campus. Not to mention his extensive knowledge of classic English literature. How he can speak so passionately about any novel published in the late fifties to now. You'd think he was at least two decades older than he is—"

"Don't call him that." Liam interrupts and shudders. "Don't talk about him like that either. It's weird."

Louis giggles but coughs roughly into a tissue. "He tells everyone to call him that and I'm simply defending my favourite professor."

"You're only saying that because he lets you write anything you want for the campus paper."

The smaller of the two shrugs with a knowing grin on his lips. "Boston University newspaper is the number one media outlet on campus, and you know what's second?"

"Is it the bulletin board?"

"It's the bulletin board." Louis frowns deeply. "Stupid board can't catch up to me and my journalist team."

"Your standards are rock bottom if you're putting all this effort into competing with a corkboard covered in tutoring and looking-for-roommate flyers," Liam adds a small skip to his step. "And by journalist team you mean a bunch of geeks who wear suits to class because they're anchors for the campus news, Zayn, your roommate and Patricia, the girl with the largest stamp collection I've ever seen."

Louis crosses his arms as best he can with a tissue box and thermos in both hands. "Ever hear of dress for the job you want? You have no clue how much work goes on behind the scenes. You don't know how many people are in a room at once just to record the news for the next morning that shows on those televisions no one sees." Louis knew the struggle of being the media of their university.

He's pulled plenty of he all-nighters writing an article for the next day or editing a script for the news forecast scheduled for the next morning. No one even watches the school news channel and when Louis asked a couple of students if they were aware of the channel, they only knew of the newspaper. It was an odd imbalance.

"Zayn has a nice camera, you've seen his work and Patricia collects coins too. Those will be worth a lot of money one day." The two weave through the crowded intersection of students and Louis wraps his arms tightly around himself trying not to touch anyone. "There's also a significant amount of lost items. I saw a poster about a welcome mat. Who would steal a welcome mat?"

"Obviously someone who isn't welcomed."

Louis inwardly groans. Liam's humour was the worst. 

They've been close friends since Louis walked into highschool, meeting a skinny and curly-haired Liam who was a sophomore. Then Liam graduated high school, leaving Louis alone in the prison lined with lockers and posters about "saving the world", and forcing Louis to maneuver his way to the end of his senior year. Louis ended up taking a summer semester, hence where he met Dr. Night. 

Upon reuniting, Liam and he proceeded to spend the summer at Liam's house in the basement. They ate their weight in popsicles and fast food. Even after bonding for two months, there was no way of getting used to the brunet's colourful personality.

Liam swings an arm around Louis' shoulder before stepping away and making a face. "You smell like Vicks and," he leans closer, "Benadryl. Did you chug the whole bottle?"

"No." Louis frowns and takes the collar of his shirt to bring it up to his nose. "Do I really smell like that?"

"You reek of it. I think I'm getting lightheaded."

The shorter of the two blows his nose. Making a face when his eyes water and his ears pop.

Liam merely observes with a wrinkle in his nose. "What time does your shift start?"

Louis groans. Normally he would be overjoyed with the opportunity to go to his favourite place but today, with his pounding headache and sore joints, he simply wants to wallow in his dim dorm room under pounds of tissues. "I start at six until closing." 

Louis worked at the campus library. The two-story building with confusing twists and turns was his second home. He spent most of his free time in the library, with his nose buried in books as he sat by the largest window on the second floor. He found more comfort in the library than his own dorm.

"Maybe you should stay in bed," Liam suggests, taking a tissue from the box in the crook of Louis' arm and uses the corner to poke the latter's face.

"I can't." Louis shakes his head and moves away from Liam's irritating poking. "I haven't missed one day of work, and I'm not going to start now."

"What about the Christmas headline? The 12 Days of Christmas?" Liam asks.

"I don't want to think of that right now." Louis usually loved the Christmas season because of his birthday and the fairytale aura it brought around. Patricia had warned him about Dr. Night's holy grail of the Christmas headline. 

Since Louis was a freshman, he expected that Dr. Night would make him the sole author of the headline to test his skills. Louis shivers at the thought, it was only his first year and being tasked with such a huge project wasn't going to be easy.

Patricia was kind enough to give him a list of things to write about. He was thankful although one of them was to research the average snowfall height in Boston. He's lucky that the snow is expecting to fall late this year, hopefully, Dr. Night will forget about the report since it still feels like autumn. 

Louis pouts, with big blue eyes. "I just wrote two full pages about Thanksgiving, most of my search history is about turkeys, squash and Pilgrims."  
  
  
  
  
  


Louis' eyes flow over each word, reading with an obsession as his fingers tightened around the pages. He eagerly flips the page and kicks up his feet, sniffling softly. He is so absorbed in his novel that he fails to hear the bell ringing on the front desk. He jumps from his spot on a worn-out leather loveseat when he hears a deep voice.

"I've been standing at the counter for five minutes."

Louis fumbles with his book and it falls right onto his face. He squeaks and sneezes, the pressure tickling his nose. He blinks and stands from the seat, eyes widening behind his eyeglasses when he sees a tall boy. 

The teenager is dressed in a grey sweater with the university logo across the chest and a pair of black shorts with an orange beanie on his head. He has red cheeks and a strong jaw, eyes staring deeply. Louis tugs his long cardigan tighter. His heartbeat picks up. There stood the boy Louis has helplessly loved and stared at from across the campus, the football captain who was a year older than him. He was even more handsome up close.

"You can't be back here." Is the only thing Louis can say, still cloudy from being knocked in the face with his heavy book. He quickly steps towards the other teen, his dirty loafers clicking off the linoleum floor. He sneezes once again and ushers the taller boy out from the back room, he could get into serious trouble with the campus librarian, an old woman named Ms. Matilda. No doubt would she give him an earful if she found out about a student wandering into the 'employees only' backroom that consisted of nothing but the old leather loveseat, a computer older than Louis and a dark creaky wardrobe.

"To be fair, I wouldn't have to come back here if you were doing your job." The boy crosses his arms, exiting through the waist-high wooden door. He rounds the corner and clasps his hand over the counter, giving Louis a closer look at his bright green eyes and straight brows.

Louis mirrors his posture, his cheeks heat up from embarrassment. "How can I help you?" His voice nasally.

The taller teen reaches under his sweater and pulls out a book. Louis wrinkles his nose, beloved books don't deserve to be tucked into teenage boy's shorts. "I came to return this."

Louis visibly deflates and fixes his glasses. "There's a little slot by the door that you can just drop your book in." He feels bad for the other teen, and for himself as well because he has to waste the breath to even explain this. "It saves time." The inner part of Louis is fairly jittery with him so close.

The other boy's mouth falls open before his pink lips stretch into a frown, he shrugs. "The book is called, 'Bleu'."

Louis works fast, finding the book on the library list and bites his lip. "You're Harry Styles." He wills his voice not to crack.

"Yeah," the teen answers, shooting Louis a bright smirk. "You know me?"

Louis' eyes widen before he lies, "Um, no. It says you're the last one to take this book out." 

Harry laughs and Louis frowns. 

To be honest, Louis has heard stories about Harry and his reputation. Aside from seeing him around campus, Louis has been infatuated with Harry for months, since March to be exact. It was at football practice and Louis had waited for Liam on the bleachers, then Harry walked out of the locker room in a pair of gym shorts and a muscle tee. Louis has never stared at someone so hard. But the stories, the rumours weren't good.

The campus was huge, Louis could pick Harry from a crowd even though he sees unfamiliar people every day. Instead of waiting for a reply, he continues. "Your book is late." Louis reads off the screen. "You took it out on September 10th and it's November 29th. It's overdue."

"Sorry?" The teenager offers, leaning on the counter. "Do I get blacklisted or something?"

Louis furrows his brows and quirks his lips in a grimace. "No, but you have to pay an extra fee." Harry was definitely something else, if Louis weren't so invested in his pretty face, he'd ask if he has ever been in a library before.

"How much?" Harry reaches into his sweater again and pulls out a wallet. He must keep everything in his shorts.

"10 cents a day after twenty-one days." Louis' movements are slow and timid as he takes out a calculator from a drawer. "That's fifty-nine days overdue, so $5.90."

"For a book?" The taller teen inquires like he's offended. "It wasn't even that good." He places the change in Louis' awaiting palm.

Louis gasps quietly, swiping the book off the counter. "I happen to be a big fan of the author."

"Whatever," Harry grunts lowly, crossing his arms. "I had to read it for a paper that I didn't even get a good grade on."

"You probably didn't try hard enough," Louis mutters under his breath, but Harry hears him and replies with a loud scoff.

"I play sports, you have to be lonely to read voluntarily." Harry rolls his eyes, making his way to the doors. "Taking words on a printed page over actual human interaction is sad. Judging by how you look I'd say you're one of the loneliest boys on campus." The door shuts behind him.

Louis frowns, his brain immediately going into defensive mode. Harry was only proving the stories to be true. That he was a mean, selfish teenager with nothing but a sexual passion for any girl on campus. Louis wasn't lonely. He has friends, not a lot but they meant a lot to him. There wasn't loneliness linked to novels. Books were drenched in imagination and freedom. Louis rolls his eyes, a guy like Harry who is a clear brawns-over-brain fellow with an aura that screams "I'm better than you", wouldn't know anything about the intimacy of books.

Louis trudges into the backroom again, his heart actually breaking when he sees his book, faced down and opened. He prays silently as he slowly picks it up but those prayers go unanswered when there is a large crease on page 108 from the top right corner to the middle of the page. He sits on the soft leather chair but his attempts at fixing the creased page are futile. Louis hated creasing his books, as such a devoted boy to novels, he treated them like jewels. And now, it was permanently damaged. How lovely.

It's late, exactly 9:00 pm and Louis sniffles, twisting the key in the lock of the large glass door. He double-checks the lock and tugs his cardigan tighter to shield his already sick and frail body from the chilling wind. He always hated walking to his dorm alone, especially when it was at least a good ten to fifteen minutes. He takes a long sip from his thermos and speeds up his steps.

The sky is dark with only a few visible glowing stars from behind the grey clouds and the short street lamps do little to light the path to his dorm. He spots a few lingering students, simply basking in the cool Boston air but Louis strongly disagrees with their decision. They'll get sick, just like him.

Louis almost squeals in delight when he spots his dorm in the distance, the low lights surrounding the front door welcoming him. Of course, Louis passes by a rebellious bunch. They snicker as he walks by, smoking their joints with beanies on their matted hair and Louis ignores them as always. He couldn't wait to take a warm shower and curl into bed, hopefully, sleep-away his sickness.

Louis doesn't sleep away from his sickness. It's still very present in his body and makes no moves to leave anytime soon. It was Friday, the last day of the week and Louis wanted to finish his third book of the week and stay in the warm comfort of his dorm. 

When he walked into Dr. Night's hall, he didn't expect the professor to request to speak to him after the lecture. Louis sits close to the front, the opposite of what he does in his other classes, and listens attentively to his favourite professor as he blabbers on about The Great Gatsby, a novel Louis' read about twelve times, he's hoping to read it for the thirteenth on Sunday.

After his two hour lecture, the rest of the students leave as Louis remains tucked in his seat with his nose buried in a book. "Louis, do you know what today is?" Dr. Night's heavy Dutch accent rings.

The blue-eyed boy peers over the top of his book, at his tall professor. "Friday."

"The date." Dr. Night shuffles around his desk before pulling out a calendar. "It's the 30th. Do you know what that means?"

Louis knew this was coming. He was about to be scolded for not starting the Christmas headline, he was still new to the journalist team but he's proven to be the most dedicated. His tardy behaviour will surely add a dent to his reputation.

"I'm sorry, Joseph," Louis mumbles and packs up his belongings into his bag. "I'll start the Christmas headline right away. If you have any good recipe websites for recipes on gingerbread cookies, pineapple ham, and those tiny macaroons, can you email them to me? That would save me a lot of time." Louis rushes up the steps, almost tripping himself.

"Wait," Dr. Night calls.

Louis turns for a quick moment, halfway up the stairs. "You're right, no one here would make macaroons. Look for some sort of peppermint shortbread cookies instead." Then he resumes to his race up the steps.

"Louis! Hold on," Dr. Night follows him to the door. "You aren't writing the Christmas headline."

The short boy slumps, pulling a confused face. "Why not?" He hopes Dr. Night wasn't second-guessing his abilities. Louis was a good journalist, an even bigger bookworm but a journalist none the least.

The professor swipes a paper from Louis' opened notebook and writes something down. "Don't make any plans for Sunday, and all Sundays after that until February. I think I found out why no one reads the campus newspaper."

Louis sniffles before wiping his nose, "I know already, the student council committee is thinking of adding another bulletin board. We're practically screwed."

"What?" Dr. Night furrows his eyebrows, looking up. "No, not that. It's because of what we write about."

"So," Louis trails, leaning close to see a series of words on the piece of paper. "You're telling me university students don't like reading about turkeys, Pilgrims, and average snowfall height?"

Dr. Night lets out a hearty laugh, pushing his glasses higher on his nose and passing the paper to Louis. "I don't think so. I'm sorry to put down your extravagant Thanksgiving headline but I think we need to write about things people will be interested in."

Louis wonders for a moment. "Drugs?"

"No."

"The world is ending?"

Dr. Night chuckles. "No. Think about it, what do university students have as an outlet when they have no money and are under the stress from pounds of work."

"Are you sure it isn't drugs?" Louis asks once more.

"Football, Louis!" Dr. Night nearly shouts with a smile. "University students use football as an outlet."

"Football." Louis repeats. "Why football?"

"The hype, the excitement, the cheering, every student loves to represent their team and the long-awaited football season is coming up." Dr. Night gestures to the paper in Louis' hand.

"Styles.HE—" Louis sneezes, Dr. Night blesses him. "What is this?"

"That is the captain of the football team. His email at least."

Louis' heart stops, Harry was the captain and the boy who unknowingly held Louis' tiny fragile heart in his hands.

"You want me to do what with this?" Louis waves the paper.

The professor shuts the door, facing Louis with a big smile. "You are going to interview him for the April headline, I'm making it the football headline."

"I have never interviewed anyone before," Louis blinks several times. He tries not to relive his first encounter with the captain himself two days prior. He would rather watch Harry from afar and fantasize about how they would look together but Louis was gay and Harry was straight. Not to mention that Louis was still hung up on the fact Harry called him lonely. Louis wasn't lonely.

"Exactly why I'm making you write the headline alone."

Louis' lips part. Not only was he writing about something he had no knowledge in, Louis liked books, not sports, he also had no pointers from Zayn or Patricia like for the Christmas headline. Dr. Night notices his hesitation. "No worries about it being on the channel, it'll only be in the newspaper. Reading is better than watching."

Louis was completely new to the team and he couldn't say no to Dr. Night, especially not after seeing how ecstatic he was about attracting more readers. Louis was truly nervous to the bone and so sick, but he says yes.

Dr. Night is even happier if possible, Louis knows he wants to jump up and down squealing like a pig. "I've talked to Styles, and he agreed that Sundays are his only free day, hence why you aren't allowed to make any plans. Since this, is your first interview, get to know him personally before anything else."

Louis tilts his head. "I thought interviews were straight to the point."

"Not necessarily, you want the person to be comfortable with you." Dr. Night states. "You need to lay down the foundation before you start building. Styles is a year older than you, so ask him about his first year. About how he brought us the championship after only a few months on the team. And what are his plans for the upcoming championship next year."

After getting a few more pointers from Dr. Night, Louis leaves the hall. He walks out onto campus, welcomed by the chilling Boston air and on the way back to his dorm, Louis' mind drifts to the football captain and his not-spotless reputation. Louis' heard from Liam that Harry is already being scouted after only one year, Liam was close friends with Harry because of the football team. Harry was the captain and Liam was the co-captain.

He never understood the excitement surrounding sports. He also never bothered to play sports himself, always opting to curl up in bed with a good book and a warm glass of milk.

 _"Judging by how you look I'd say you're one of the loneliest boys on campus."_ Harry's voice echoes in his brain.

Louis looks down at his clothes, a pair of warm red corduroys and a thick black knit sweater stare back at him. _Do I look like a nerd?_ Louis wonders. He pushes up his glasses and frowns, holding his book closer to his chest. Louis wasn't a nerd, he didn't seek for friends in books, he wasn't lonely. Harry didn't understand.  
  
  


_From:_ **_Tomlinson.LW@BostonUni.com_ **  
_To:_ **_Styles.HE@BostonUni.com_ **

_Good evening,_

_I'm Louis, I'll be interviewing you for the football headline. Joseph mentioned that Sundays were your only free days. We can meet at ten in the library._

  
  


Louis checks his email that night, seeing Harry still hasn't even read his message. It's been about six hours, Louis is closing the library and walks home in the dark again.

The next day, Louis sleeps in. It's noon when he wakes up, and it's because he hears someone banging on his door. He sits up in bed, rubbing his eyes before getting up. His large sweater slips off his shoulder and his bare feet patter on the floor before he swings open the door.

The stranger stands there without speaking.

"Hello? May I help you?" Louis squints through his blurry vision.

"It's Saturday—do you not recognize me? Where are your glasses?"

Louis slumps, "what do you want, Liam?" He knows that voice. "Don't you have practice or something?"

"I was excused because of my doctor's appointment this morning." Louis can hear the excitement in his friend's voice. "Get your glasses, we're going out today." The brunet gently pushes his way into the dorm room, sighing in relief when he saw the bed on the other side of the room is empty. "Good, he's not here." Louis was aware of Liam and Zayn's rocky relationship consisting of late-night hook-ups and avoiding each other on campus. Zayn was naturally quiet and Liam was shy when it came to his sexuality, opting to not be as opened as Louis but also not ashamed. He wasn't one for PDA anyway. 

Louis huffs in annoyance, he would have preferred to sleep in. "Zayn got booked for the weekend. Someone hired him for a wedding."

"Your roommate does _Craigslist_ dates?" Liam asks, plopping on Louis' unmade bed, making a noise of disgust when he falls on a used tissue, he throws it on the floor.

"No. He takes pictures." Louis starts gathering clothes and shower essentials. "How do you even know about _Craigslist_ dates?"

"You know that really big party where you had to dress up and go to a hall and eat bad food? It was at the end of the school year."

Louis thinks for a moment, slipping on his glasses and relaxing his eyes. "You mean prom?"

"Yeah. I've dabbled in buying dates."

Louis comes to a realization. "You—That girl. You hired her?"

Liam shrugs, taking a book off Louis' night table and flipping through the pages without care. "Yeah, Janice. She was hot."

Louis wrinkles his nose. "Did you... Do the thing with her?"

Liam laughs, rolling his eyes. "Sex? You know sex isn't a _'bad word'_ as you call it. And, to answer your question, a gentleman never tells."

The smaller of the two swipes his towel off the closet door. He puts on a pair of slippers and mutters, "whatever."

When Louis returns to his room, all clean and smelling like lavender, Liam is passed out on his bed. Louis gathers his worn-out bag, scarf, jacket, and a box of tissues before shaking Liam awake. "Go away." The brunet murmurs, rolling over and burying his face in Louis' pillow. If he wasn't sick already, he would be soon.

Louis jumps on him, shaking him rougher. "You woke me up at noon on a day when I would sleep until three. We are going out today."

After a few more moments of shaking and pushing at Liam's shoulders, the latter is up, taking Louis off the bed and patting his head. "So tiny."

Louis pouts. "Stop stalling, and go." He points to the door.  
  
  
  
  
  


They spend the day outside of campus walking along a strip of small stores and restaurants. Louis spends approximately an hour and twenty minutes in the book store, walking out with three new novels and a fresh set of bookmarks. Louis was excited to have books that weren't scribbled on or creased. Liam, on the other hand, fell asleep in boredom in the children's section of the store and woke up to an employee tapping his shoulder. 

Louis treats Liam to lunch at a tiny outdoor patio restaurant in apology despite his friend's protests because he was well aware of Louis' financial situation. Liam deserved it after Louis lugged him around the giant book store.

They've got their food and Liam has already started eating his burrito and Louis has taken a few scoops of his soup. "So,"

"So?" Liam repeats with his mouth full of food. 

"I'm not writing the Christmas headline anymore."

The brunet's jaw drops. "Just because you didn't start? That's so wack, what the fuck."

"No, no." Louis takes a sip of water. "Joseph is making me do the April headline."

"For Easter? What are you going to write about, bunnies and chocolate? Different ways to paint an egg?" 

Louis furrows his brows, "Easter is about a lot more than that."

"Oh yes, can't forget about streamers in pastel colours and straw woven baskets." 

Louis rolls his eyes, "Joseph wants to attract more readers,"

"How about just not having a school newspaper? No one reads." 

Louis frowns deeply, gesturing to his bag of books. 

"No one reads except for you."

The smaller of the two lets out a long breath, "I'm writing the football headline."

It's like Liam can read his mind, "You don't know a thing about football. How are you going to write a full headline about it?" He tilts his head, "I guess you can do research, would that be easy?"

"It's not that kind of headline. Joseph wants me to interview a football player, the captain to be specific."

"Harry Styles?" The name rolls off his tongue. "The one you dream about."

"Shut up," Louis hisses. "I don't dream about him." That was a lie. The number of times Louis woke up feeling empty yet bubbly after having a dream about Harry. His dreams always felt so real, but when he woke up, the reality would hit him like a truck.

"I'm his friend, I could tell you about him instead of you being a stuttering mess," Bless Liam, always looking out for his small innocent friend.

"Joseph was really excited, I don't want to lie to him," Louis slouches, stirring his soup. "I have to interview him every Sunday until March." He would rather do the Christmas headline, it would be easier and he wouldn't need to be near Harry. Harry made Louis feel uneasy, his confidence was suffocating.

Liam whistles. "Good luck with that guy."

**Author's Note:**

> here we gooo !! it's pretty much the same right now but any thoughts so far ?


End file.
